EU urges members to impose ‘consequences’ on Israel

A gathering of European Union (EU) foreign ministers yesterday was rife with calls for Palestinian statehood as the only way to resolve Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and to ensure peace in the wider region, in a significant but disunited show of force against Israel’s transgressions.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly and unequivocally stated his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, in an admittance which confirmed to many his long-held disbelief in the two-state solution. Over the weekend, Netanyahu doubled down on those remarks, saying that Israel should maintain “security control over the entire area west of [the river] Jordan”.

At a gathering in Belgium’s capital Brussels yesterday, many EU foreign ministers condemned Netanyahu’s stance and argued that the only serious way to resolve peace in the region is to ensure the pathway for Palestinian statehood.

Speaking to reporters, France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne said: “The declarations of Benjamin Netanyahu are worrying. There will be a need for a Palestinian state with security guarantees for all.” Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib also emphasised that

Gaza is in a situation of extreme urgency. There is a risk of famine. There is a risk of epidemics. The violence must stop.

Even ministers from states that have recently proven their fealty and staunch support for Israel expressed their concerns over Netanyahu’s remarks, with Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stating: “Palestinians can only live in dignity, in security, in freedom if Israel lives in security. That’s why the two-state solution is the only solution and those who don’t want to know about it have not yet put forward any other alternative.”

READ: Israel’s Katz skirts EU talk of two-state solution with video show

Austria’s representative Alexander Schallenberg also called the Israeli premier’s declarations “short-sighted” and defended the Palestinians’ right to self-determination as the “only solution”. He stressed that “neither the Israelis will disappear into thin air, nor the Palestinians. They will both have to live side by side in this region.”

A key part of the talks was reportedly to hear about Israel’s plans for the future of Gaza after the end of its ongoing war, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad Al-Maliki at the meeting.

Katz presented the proposal for the creation of an artificial island off the coast of Gaza and a project for a rail linking the Middle East and India as regional solutions, but the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was reportedly unsatisfied.

“I think the minister [Katz] could have made better use of his time and focused on the deaths in Gaza,” Borrell said. He also expressed disappointment in Katz’s continued opposition to the two-state solution as a potential Israeli position, saying that “we weren’t able to get him to change his mind, but we weren’t expecting that.”

Prior to the gathering, it was revealed by the Financial Times that the EU had urged its member states to impose “consequences” on Israel if Netanyahu continues to oppose Palestinian statehood, with a document circulated to capitals ahead of yesterday’s meeting showing that the bloc’s demands include “an independent Palestinian State living side by side with Israel, in peace and security, with full normalisation and substantive development of security and economic co-operation.”

READ: European countries oppose Israeli idea of Gaza population’s forced relocation